I've done a lot of videos here at SparkFun and I can't necessarily say I'm "proud" of the one this week. I had an idea and we ran with it. Maybe we shouldn't have...
The FLATUS (fart loudening armpit triggered utilization systemizer) is really a wonderfully terrible device. It provides hours of fun for the whole family. It was a simple concept that really never should have made it to a physical product. This one should have stayed on the drawing table. But we still had a lot of fun with it. You can check out the Vimeo version of the video here.
The classic foot pedal switch. These can be seen in musical instruments, sewing machines, or even tattoo equipment. Our foot pedal switch is terminated with a 1/4" jack and works well with repeated use. It has rubber feet to keep it from sliding around and a nice rubber pad on the top for reliable foot triggering.
The ProtoSnap LilyPad Development Board went through a revision this week. We've corrected a lot of silk screen errors, making it easier to use. The board comes with everything you see above including thread, needles, a LilyPad FTDI, and a battery.
We now have lead-free solder paste. It's a bit more money than the leaded stuff and works the same. It comes in a 50 gram container and will be perfect for making your own SMD boards at home. Check out our solder paste stenciling tutorial and video.
That's all we have for this week. Hopefully someone enjoyed the demo and I'm sure several of you can find a use for one of the new products. Thanks for reading, watching, and listening this week. I'll see you again next week.
I was refreshing the page over and over waiting for this. New Product Posts are the highlight of my week I LOVE YOU SPARKFUN!
Where did you get the sound samples? If you recorded them yourself, that didn't make it in to the video.
um, well, er... most of the sounds were recorded by me. my wife gives a mean tummy raspberry...
Mind=Blown!
THIS is the reason I got into electronics. My life is now complete.
This is what Fridays are all about! At least my Fridays :P Way to greet the new guy at 5:15! What HAS he let himself in for :P
In Amy's office there is what appears to be a large 7 segment clock. Can we purchase displays that big, if not where were they purchased?
Anything is for sale - but in this case, it's the GPS Wall Clock. tl;dr: The 7-segment modules are custom made using styrofoam and some LED bar modules. Much cheaper than buying them :)
The highlight for me was at 5:40 when Mike got assaulted. Poor guy. I laughed. Hard.
When you sad what you did with the products on the video I was like oh god why!... But when i see the rest of the video I was like Awwwwwww Yeeeaaaahhhhh!!!!!! :) Love you SparkFun :)
The "Utilization Systemizer" portion of the acronym is definitely something the DoD would come up with. This video was hilarious. thanks for that.
WOW! Exactly at 4:18 when the guy listened to Bob Dylan - Hurricane, I was listening to that at the exact same time, cool!
Wow. Good ear...and taste in music!
heh, same!
Flatus = duuuuuuuuuuuuh.
I'm hurt! Why didn't you just use an MP3 Trigger?
Hah, oops! Sorry, I literally built this out of what was on my desk and the (very capable) MP3 Trigger just wasn't at arm's reach.
Well I can honestly say I will be getting that peddle, the one I had on my amp just broke, great timing you guys.
Please introduce us to the German Shepherd at 5:15!
Hmmm... foot switch for use on radios (Ham Radio)! Thank you!
This is fantastic. Keep up the cool posts!
thanks!
lol
What about a vibration motor so you can get the timing down. Yeah Im putting too much thought into this lol
That expensive lead-free solder ("sodder") paste is another reason I'm glad we don't have mandatory RoHS requirements of us hobby folk.
Best part: "I'm here to cropdust". This isn't mentioned anywhere, and it could be my imagination, but do the two switches emit different types of noise? It looked like the right arm might trigger squeakers while the left arm triggers the juicier noises.
nope. each one triggers the same way. both just trigger a random mp3. it just kinda worked out like that.
ode to explosive progress... I can't believe I'm posting this
rob !! i need ur job!! u can have everything at sparkfun just look at ur office!!
well, my 'real' position is product manager, so yeah, I kinda have one of everything...
One thing to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
That enclosure looks useful for, um, more legitimate endeavors, too. Is that something you're going to be carrying?
I knew people were goona want to know about the enclosure, They are called PAC TEC enclosures. You can find them online in Penn. I have bought a few from the mfg. they are great and you can get free samples too.
I know we can all use google (or Bing!) but here's the link: PacTec Enclosures
Thanks jstoaks and Member #218018, I gave you both a star for your helpfulness.
I'd also like to know if Sparkfun plans on selling that enclosure, and if not where else it can be purchase.
Great project, you guys have way too much fun!
BTW, Pedal means foot-operated lever, so "Foot Pedal" is technically a redundant term, not unlike "Hand Handle".
Ok, I'll stop being pedantic now...
yeah, I know.
I noticed it when I watched it all for the first time.
Kind of like ATM Machiene
What a way to make up for a lightly clad new list of products. You guys spend way too much time coming up with awesome acronyms.
Funny you should mention that! We have a lot of fun brainstorming for these project ideas and the acronyms that go with them, so we have decided to start filming them! Stay tuned to see our creative process in the coming weeks.
So what is the shelf life of the lead free solder paste? Does it need to be kept in the fridge? Does lead free solder paste have a longer shelf life than the 'ethel' kind?
Now if you put one of those foot switches into a flat balloon you could make an electronic whoopie (goldberg?) cushion. But you've probably done that already.
The footswitch link doesn't work and there's no link for the solder paste
Fixed
Hmm.... both worked fine for me from the start..
The solder paste link worked for me. Just click on the photo. Ditto for the foot switch.